In 2018, Azeem Rehman and his wife Wajiha Jivani signed an area development agreement with My Eyelab to open 10 locations in the Dallas market.
After years of working corporate management and consulting, the duo is thrilled to be finally fulfilling their dreams of business ownership.
Access to Learning Tools and Strong Support from Corporate
Azeem was drawn to franchising because of the freedom and flexibility that comes with owning your own business. He has always had an eye for strong, forward-thinking business opportunities thanks to his corporate background.
Azeem worked for Amazon for three years as a consultant assisting with the digitization of all Amazon customers. Meanwhile, Wajiha worked in the jewelry business and brings a strong sales background. The two are poised to help their customers see their world more clearly.
However, that doesn’t mean the two haven’t faced a learning curve along the way. Luckily, they had support from the My Eyelab team every step of the way.
“The training is ongoing – they use a platform called Litmus which provides access to each training session, from management to operations and sales,” explained Azeem. “When I went in person, I had the opportunity to ask questions and roleplay – there were close to 20 people from across the U.S. there for the training as well.”
Once Azeem returned from training down in Florida, he still felt the strong support from My Eyelab’s corporate team. Every couple of months, our corporate team would visit Azeem and Wajiha and spend a day with their staff and help address questions and concerns – providing additional opportunities for Azeem and Wajiha to feel confident in reaching out for advice and utilize our support systems.
Innovation in a Constantly Changing Industry
Not only did Azeem and Wajiha see the benefit of consistent access to training through our learning management system, but they also saw us as a standout against the competition with our technology-enabled business model – especially during a global pandemic.
“We were very nervous when COVID hit because we thought as a retail business it would have a negative impact,” explained Azeem. “It’s the flip side of it – we’ve been able to thrive.”
Azeem and Wajiha have been able to see their business continue to deliver essential products and services thanks to our telehealth technology. While Azeem and Wajiha still had to shut down their main location for a couple of weeks in March and April, their overall business has stayed strong in the face of difficulty.
“Everything is evolving, and I see telehealth as a revolution in the industry,” said Azeem. “Based on the current situation with COVID-19, it’s a big plus to be in telemedicine.”
And having worn glasses since he was six years old, Azeem can personally attest to the efficacy of our telehealth system.
“I was as satisfied as I would have been with an eye doctor physically performing the exam,” he added.
The Future of Expansion
While Azeem and Wajiha currently have one location open in Carrollton, Texas, the pandemic hasn’t slowed their expansion plans down.
After spending a year and a half watching their entrepreneurial dreams flourish as they provide their essential services to their community, the duo feels confident in their ability to successfully open more locations. They will be expanding their multi-unit portfolio with two new locations within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in December 2020.
“We plan to be more dominant in the South of Dallas area and have a strong footprint, as well as strong opposition to our competition with our top-quality customer service and prices,” said Azeem. “I have plans to open two or three more locations in 2021 as well – the mindset is to have a portfolio of up to ten or more locations in the future.”
Thanks to their passion and motivation to become entrepreneurs, Azeem and Wajiha saw an opportunity to leave the corporate business world and join a sophisticated, yet nontraditional retail franchise that can help serve their community’s vision no matter the economic conditions.
